With Māgaṇḍiya

“Even when I saw the sirens <j>Craving, Malignancy, and Lust,*Māra’s daughters, the archetypal temptresses. Their failed seduction is told at SN 4.25.I had no desire for sex.What is this body full of piss and shit?*The commentary is surely correct in glossing these lines as kimevidaṁ imissā dārikāya muttakarīsapuṇṇaṁ rūpaṁ. Idaṁ (neuter) refers to the body (rūpa) not to the girl. It’s a meaningful distinction; the Buddha was criticizing the nature of the body, not shaming the person.I wouldn’t even want to touch it with my foot.”*Icche is 1st optative. Naṁ is rendered as feminine (“her”) by Norman and Bodhi, but it agrees with idaṁ in the previous line, so it should be neuter (“it”). Again, the Buddha says nothing in criticism of the woman, only of the body.

“Disvāna taṇhaṁ aratiṁ ragañca, *aratiṁ ragañca → aratiñca rāgaṁ (sya-all, mr)Nāhosi chando api methunasmiṁ; Kimevidaṁ muttakarīsapuṇṇaṁ, Pādāpi naṁ samphusituṁ na icche”.

“Even when I saw the sirens <j>Craving, Malignancy, and Lust,*Māra’s daughters, the archetypal temptresses. Their failed seduction is told at SN 4.25.“Disvāna taṇhaṁ aratiṁ ragañca, *aratiṁ ragañca → aratiñca rāgaṁ (sya-all, mr)I had no desire for sex.Nāhosi chando api methunasmiṁ; What is this body full of piss and shit?*The commentary is surely correct in glossing these lines as kimevidaṁ imissā dārikāya muttakarīsapuṇṇaṁ rūpaṁ. Idaṁ (neuter) refers to the body (rūpa) not to the girl. It’s a meaningful distinction; the Buddha was criticizing the nature of the body, not shaming the person.Kimevidaṁ muttakarīsapuṇṇaṁ, I wouldn’t even want to touch it with my foot.”*Icche is 1st optative. Naṁ is rendered as feminine (“her”) by Norman and Bodhi, but it agrees with idaṁ in the previous line, so it should be neuter (“it”). Again, the Buddha says nothing in criticism of the woman, only of the body.Pādāpi naṁ samphusituṁ na icche”.

“If you do not want a gem such as this,a lady desired by many rulers of men,then what manner of theory, <j>precepts and vows, livelihood,and rebirth in a new life do you assert?”

“Etādisañce ratanaṁ na icchasi, Nāriṁ narindehi bahūhi patthitaṁ; Diṭṭhigataṁ sīlavataṁ nu jīvitaṁ, *sīlavataṁ nu jīvitaṁ → sīlavatānujīvitaṁ (bj, pts-vp-pli1, mr)Bhavūpapattiñca vadesi kīdisaṁ”.

“If you do not want a gem such as this,“Etādisañce ratanaṁ na icchasi, a lady desired by many rulers of men,Nāriṁ narindehi bahūhi patthitaṁ; then what manner of theory, <j>precepts and vows, livelihood,Diṭṭhigataṁ sīlavataṁ nu jīvitaṁ, *sīlavataṁ nu jīvitaṁ → sīlavatānujīvitaṁ (bj, pts-vp-pli1, mr)and rebirth in a new life do you assert?”Bhavūpapattiñca vadesi kīdisaṁ”.

“After judging among the teachings,”*The sense only emerges with the specific nuance of terms. Niccheyya means to “judge, decide” not simply “consider”; and samuggahītaṁ means “[a view that is] adopted” (not “assumed” or “grasped”). Finally, the na here applies, not just to idaṁ vadāmi, but also to samuggahītaṁ, with which idaṁ agrees.said the BuddhaBuddhaEl nombre dado a quien redescubre por sí mismo el sendero liberador del Dhamma, tras un largo período de haber sido olvidado por el mundo. Según la tradición, una larga línea de Buddhas se extiende hasta el pasado distante. El Buddha más reciente nació como Siddhattha Gotama en la India alrededor del año 500 a.e.c. Un joven bien educado y acomodado, renunció a su familia y su herencia principesca en la flor de la vida para buscar la verdadera libertad y el fin del sufrimiento (dukkha). Después de siete años de austeridades en el bosque, redescubrió el «camino medio» y alcanzó su meta, convirtiéndose en el Buddha.Ver en el glosario to Māgaṇḍiya,“none have been adopted thinking, ‘I assert this.’Seeing views without adopting any,searching, I saw inner peace.”*This presumably refers to the times when the Buddha-to-be rejected his former teachers.

“Idaṁ vadāmīti na tassa hoti, (māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) Dhammesu niccheyya samuggahītaṁ; Passañca diṭṭhīsu anuggahāya, Ajjhattasantiṁ pacinaṁ adassaṁ”.

“After judging among the teachings,”*The sense only emerges with the specific nuance of terms. Niccheyya means to “judge, decide” not simply “consider”; and samuggahītaṁ means “[a view that is] adopted” (not “assumed” or “grasped”). Finally, the na here applies, not just to idaṁ vadāmi, but also to samuggahītaṁ, with which idaṁ agrees.“Idaṁ vadāmīti na tassa hoti, said the Buddha to Māgaṇḍiya,(māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) “none have been adopted thinking, ‘I assert this.’Dhammesu niccheyya samuggahītaṁ; Seeing views without adopting any,Passañca diṭṭhīsu anuggahāya, searching, I saw inner peace.”*This presumably refers to the times when the Buddha-to-be rejected his former teachers.Ajjhattasantiṁ pacinaṁ adassaṁ”.

“O sage, you speak of judgments you have formed,”said Māgaṇḍiya,*Two Māgaṇḍiyas appear in the Pali canon: here and in MN 75 where he attacks the Buddha as a destroyer of life. As to the protagonist of the current sutta, the Pali commentary, Divyāvadāna 36—which calls him Mākandika—and the Chinese parallel in the Arthapada (T iv 180) say he too hails from the Kuru country, as also at MN 75. Now, the Mahābhārata and other Sanskrit sources name Mākandī as a city or province on the banks of the Ganges, in the Pañcāla kingdom south of Hastināpura. This more-or-less agrees with Māgaṇḍiya’s home in the Kuru country, and suggests his name means “the man from Mākandī”. Divyāvadāna 36 and Sanskrit fragment say the Mākandika of the current sutta was also a wanderer, which does not contradict the position of the Pali commentaries and the Arthapada that he was a brahmin. At AN 5.294–302:1.1 māgaṇḍika is listed as a type of ascetic; these could well be students of Māgaṇḍiya. Kathāsaritsāgara 15 tells the comic farce of an ascetic from Mākandikā on the banks of the Ganges, who fell in love with the daughter of a merchant and went to ridiculous lengths to obtain her, only to end up a laughing-stock. This story could well have begun life as a comic inversion of this sutta. Reading all these sources together, we can posit that there was a brahmin wanderer from Mākandī on the Ganges in Kuru, who gained a certain fame and following as a teacher, but who is mainly remembered for his failed schemes. The Pali commentaries further specify that the Māgaṇḍiya of MN 75 is the nephew of the one in the current sutta.“without having adopted any of those views.As to that matter of ‘inner peace’—how is that described by the attentive?”

“Vinicchayā yāni pakappitāni, (iti māgaṇḍiyo) Te ve munī brūsi anuggahāya; Ajjhattasantīti yametamatthaṁ, Kathaṁ nu dhīrehi paveditaṁ taṁ”.

“O sage, you speak of judgments you have formed,”“Vinicchayā yāni pakappitāni, said Māgaṇḍiya,*Two Māgaṇḍiyas appear in the Pali canon: here and in MN 75 where he attacks the Buddha as a destroyer of life. As to the protagonist of the current sutta, the Pali commentary, Divyāvadāna 36—which calls him Mākandika—and the Chinese parallel in the Arthapada (T iv 180) say he too hails from the Kuru country, as also at MN 75. Now, the Mahābhārata and other Sanskrit sources name Mākandī as a city or province on the banks of the Ganges, in the Pañcāla kingdom south of Hastināpura. This more-or-less agrees with Māgaṇḍiya’s home in the Kuru country, and suggests his name means “the man from Mākandī”. Divyāvadāna 36 and Sanskrit fragment say the Mākandika of the current sutta was also a wanderer, which does not contradict the position of the Pali commentaries and the Arthapada that he was a brahmin. At AN 5.294–302:1.1 māgaṇḍika is listed as a type of ascetic; these could well be students of Māgaṇḍiya. Kathāsaritsāgara 15 tells the comic farce of an ascetic from Mākandikā on the banks of the Ganges, who fell in love with the daughter of a merchant and went to ridiculous lengths to obtain her, only to end up a laughing-stock. This story could well have begun life as a comic inversion of this sutta. Reading all these sources together, we can posit that there was a brahmin wanderer from Mākandī on the Ganges in Kuru, who gained a certain fame and following as a teacher, but who is mainly remembered for his failed schemes. The Pali commentaries further specify that the Māgaṇḍiya of MN 75 is the nephew of the one in the current sutta.(iti māgaṇḍiyo) “without having adopted any of those views.Te ve munī brūsi anuggahāya; As to that matter of ‘inner peace’—Ajjhattasantīti yametamatthaṁ, how is that described by the attentive?”Kathaṁ nu dhīrehi paveditaṁ taṁ”.

“Purity is spoken of not as due to view,”said the Buddha to Māgaṇḍiya,“learning, knowledge, or precepts and vows;*Pi here doesn’t qualify sīlabbata (per Norman), it co-ordinates with nopi tena. I capture this with the not/nor construction.nor without view, learning,knowledge, or precepts and vows.Having relinquished these, not adopting them,peaceful, independent, one would not pray <j>for another life.”

“Na diṭṭhiyā na sutiyā na ñāṇena, (māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) Sīlabbatenāpi na suddhimāha; Adiṭṭhiyā assutiyā añāṇā, Asīlatā abbatā nopi tena; Ete ca nissajja anuggahāya, Santo anissāya bhavaṁ na jappe”.

“Purity is spoken of not as due to view,”“Na diṭṭhiyā na sutiyā na ñāṇena, said the Buddha to Māgaṇḍiya,(māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) “learning, knowledge, or precepts and vows;*Pi here doesn’t qualify sīlabbata (per Norman), it co-ordinates with nopi tena. I capture this with the not/nor construction.Sīlabbatenāpi na suddhimāha; nor without view, learning,Adiṭṭhiyā assutiyā añāṇā, knowledge, or precepts and vows.Asīlatā abbatā nopi tena; Having relinquished these, not adopting them,Ete ca nissajja anuggahāya, peaceful, independent, one would not pray <j>for another life.”Santo anissāya bhavaṁ na jappe”.

“It seems purity is spoken of not as due to view,”said Māgaṇḍiya,“learning, knowledge, or precepts and vows;nor without view, learning,knowledge, or precepts and vows.If so, I think this teaching is sheer folly;some believe that purity comes from view.”

“No ce kira diṭṭhiyā na sutiyā na ñāṇena, (iti māgaṇḍiyo) Sīlabbatenāpi na suddhimāha; Adiṭṭhiyā assutiyā añāṇā, Asīlatā abbatā nopi tena; Maññāmahaṁ momuhameva dhammaṁ, Diṭṭhiyā eke paccenti suddhiṁ”.

“It seems purity is spoken of not as due to view,”“No ce kira diṭṭhiyā na sutiyā na ñāṇena, said Māgaṇḍiya,(iti māgaṇḍiyo) “learning, knowledge, or precepts and vows;Sīlabbatenāpi na suddhimāha; nor without view, learning,Adiṭṭhiyā assutiyā añāṇā, knowledge, or precepts and vows.Asīlatā abbatā nopi tena; If so, I think this teaching is sheer folly;Maññāmahaṁ momuhameva dhammaṁ, some believe that purity comes from view.”Diṭṭhiyā eke paccenti suddhiṁ”.

“Continuing to question while relying on a view,”said the Buddha to Māgaṇḍiya,“you’ve become confused by all you’ve adopted.From this you’ve not glimpsed the slightest idea,which is why you consider the teaching folly.

“Diṭṭhañca nissāya anupucchamāno, (māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) Samuggahītesu pamohamāgā; *pamohamāgā → pamohamāga (bj); samohamāgā (sya-all, mr)Ito ca nāddakkhi aṇumpi saññaṁ, Tasmā tuvaṁ momuhato dahāsi.

“Continuing to question while relying on a view,”“Diṭṭhañca nissāya anupucchamāno, said the Buddha to Māgaṇḍiya,(māgaṇḍiyāti bhagavā) “you’ve become confused by all you’ve adopted.Samuggahītesu pamohamāgā; *pamohamāgā → pamohamāga (bj); samohamāgā (sya-all, mr)From this you’ve not glimpsed the slightest idea,Ito ca nāddakkhi aṇumpi saññaṁ, which is why you consider the teaching folly.Tasmā tuvaṁ momuhato dahāsi.

If you think that ‘I’m equal,special, or worse’, you’ll dispute about that.Not wavering due to the three discriminations,they have no thought, ‘I’m equal or special’.

Samo visesī uda vā nihīno, Yo maññati so vivadetha tena; *maññati → maññatī (csp1ed, csp2ed)Tīsu vidhāsu avikampamāno, Samo visesīti na tassa hoti.

If you think that ‘I’m equal,Samo visesī uda vā nihīno, special, or worse’, you’ll dispute about that.Yo maññati so vivadetha tena; *maññati → maññatī (csp1ed, csp2ed)Not wavering due to the three discriminations,Tīsu vidhāsu avikampamāno, they have no thought, ‘I’m equal or special’.Samo visesīti na tassa hoti.

Why would that brahmin say, ‘It’s true’,or with whom would they dispute, ‘It’s false’?There is no equal or unequal in them,so who would they take on in debate?

Saccanti so brāhmaṇo kiṁ vadeyya, Musāti vā so vivadetha kena; Yasmiṁ samaṁ visamaṁ vāpi natthi, Sa kena vādaṁ paṭisaṁyujeyya.

Why would that brahmin say, ‘It’s true’,Saccanti so brāhmaṇo kiṁ vadeyya, or with whom would they dispute, ‘It’s false’?Musāti vā so vivadetha kena; There is no equal or unequal in them,Yasmiṁ samaṁ visamaṁ vāpi natthi, so who would they take on in debate?Sa kena vādaṁ paṭisaṁyujeyya.

After leaving their bastion to migrate without abode,*This verse is quoted and discussed at SN 22.3:1.4.a sage doesn’t get close to anyone in town.Rid of sensual pleasures, not expecting,they wouldn’t get in arguments with people.

Okaṁ pahāya aniketasārī, Gāme akubbaṁ muni santhavāni; *santhavāni → sandhavāni (mr)Kāmehi ritto apurakkharāno, Kathaṁ na viggayha janena kayirā.

After leaving their bastion to migrate without abode,*This verse is quoted and discussed at SN 22.3:1.4.Okaṁ pahāya aniketasārī, a sage doesn’t get close to anyone in town.Gāme akubbaṁ muni santhavāni; *santhavāni → sandhavāni (mr)Rid of sensual pleasures, not expecting,Kāmehi ritto apurakkharāno, they wouldn’t get in arguments with people.Kathaṁ na viggayha janena kayirā.

A spiritual giant would not take up for debatethe things in the world from which they live secluded.As a prickly lotus born in the wateris unsullied by water and mud,so the greedless sage, proponent of peace,is unsmeared by sensuality and the world.

Yehi vivitto vicareyya loke, Na tāni uggayha vadeyya nāgo; Jalambujaṁ kaṇḍakavārijaṁ yathā, *Jalambujaṁ → elambujaṁ (bj, sya-all mnd9:89 [Māgaṇḍiyasuttaniddesa])Jalena paṅkena canūpalittaṁ; Evaṁ munī santivādo agiddho, Kāme ca loke ca anūpalitto.

A spiritual giant would not take up for debateYehi vivitto vicareyya loke, the things in the world from which they live secluded.Na tāni uggayha vadeyya nāgo; As a prickly lotus born in the waterJalambujaṁ kaṇḍakavārijaṁ yathā, *Jalambujaṁ → elambujaṁ (bj, sya-all mnd9:89 [Māgaṇḍiyasuttaniddesa])is unsullied by water and mud,Jalena paṅkena canūpalittaṁ; so the greedless sage, proponent of peace,Evaṁ munī santivādo agiddho, is unsmeared by sensuality and the world.Kāme ca loke ca anūpalitto.

A knowledge master does not become conceiteddue to view or thought, <j>for they are not determined by that.They’ve no need for deeds or learning,*Neyyo has the sense “needing to be led”, for example a student who “requires education” before they can master a passage (AN 4.133:1.3). Here it refers to the arahant.they’re not indoctrinated in dogmas.*Anupanīto (“not led in”) relates to neyyo in the previous line. Anupanīto has the sense of “one who has been educated (in recitation)” at MN 93:15.2. Compare English “brought into the fold”. The sense of “dogma” for nivesana is established at Snp 4.3:6.3 and Snp 4.5:6.3.

Na vedagū diṭṭhiyāyako na mutiyā, *Na vedagū diṭṭhiyāyako → na vedagū diṭṭhiyā (bj, sya-all, pts-vp-pli1)Sa mānameti na hi tammayo so; Na kammunā nopi sutena neyyo, Anūpanīto sa nivesanesu.

A knowledge master does not become conceitedNa vedagū diṭṭhiyāyako na mutiyā, *Na vedagū diṭṭhiyāyako → na vedagū diṭṭhiyā (bj, sya-all, pts-vp-pli1)due to view or thought, <j>for they are not determined by that.Sa mānameti na hi tammayo so; They’ve no need for deeds or learning,*Neyyo has the sense “needing to be led”, for example a student who “requires education” before they can master a passage (AN 4.133:1.3). Here it refers to the arahant.Na kammunā nopi sutena neyyo, they’re not indoctrinated in dogmas.*Anupanīto (“not led in”) relates to neyyo in the previous line. Anupanīto has the sense of “one who has been educated (in recitation)” at MN 93:15.2. Compare English “brought into the fold”. The sense of “dogma” for nivesana is established at Snp 4.3:6.3 and Snp 4.5:6.3.Anūpanīto sa nivesanesu.

There are no ties for one detached from ideas;there are no delusions for one freed by wisdom.But those who have adopted ideas and viewswander the world causing conflict.”

Saññāvirattassa na santi ganthā, Paññāvimuttassa na santi mohā; Saññañca diṭṭhiñca ye aggahesuṁ, Te ghaṭṭayantā vicaranti loke”ti. *ghaṭṭayantā → ghaṭṭamānā (sya-all, mr)

There are no ties for one detached from ideas;Saññāvirattassa na santi ganthā, there are no delusions for one freed by wisdom.Paññāvimuttassa na santi mohā; But those who have adopted ideas and viewsSaññañca diṭṭhiñca ye aggahesuṁ, wander the world causing conflict.”Te ghaṭṭayantā vicaranti loke”ti. *ghaṭṭayantā → ghaṭṭamānā (sya-all, mr)